Don’t get overexcited, this is NOT a new Happysad cartoon!

On the contrary, this is an old one dating back to 2007. The reason I’m picking it up again is this cool anecdote: some time ago, I was contacted by a New York philosophy professor who came to ask permission to use this cartoon in a book he’s writing on quantum mechanics in popular culture. How cool is that? I love knowing my cartoons will end up in some academic publication on another continent. I love it even more when people have the decency to at least request permission, instead of just stealing it like most people tend to do. By the coolest thing was that in his e-mail, he actually addressed me in Dutch! Turns out he studied in my home town some thirty years ago. Nice touch

Hey everybody,

dropping by to say hi and let you know things are fine. I was talking with Yonderland girl recently (yes, we’re still in touch very frequently), and at one point I was reminded of my plans to change things in my life. Funny, I almost forgot about those – but not in a bad way. Not in the sense that I had given up on them, but in the sense that self-improvement is becoming more of a habit, and less of something I need to remind myself of every day.

And things are going quite well. My cartoon customers have finally ended their hibernation, and I’m getting interesting assignments again. I’ve picked up running again, and I’m very pleased that the sun is out more often. Of course, I can’t rest on my laurels just yet – I still have a long way to go. But I’ve decided to just go along and enjoy the ride. That might also have something to do with a BIG birthday coming up next month…

I’ll write some more about that later. Meanwhile, not to leave you entirely empty-handed, here’s a bunny saying woof:

For lack of new cartoons (yes, still) I thought I’d show you a few other things I’ve been trying out earlier. Mostly because people came with a request for them, so not because I was dragging myself out of my comfort zone… but sometimes it’s nice if other people can do that for you

The first is a card announcing the birth of the son of a friend of mine, who is a house painter – hence the theme. Some people may also recognise the logo I used. I wasn’t sure what people were going to think about my fairly ‘non-traditional’ approach, but I hear people really liked it, so Yeay

And speaking of logos, I was also asked to design a logo, another thing I have virtually no experience in. But again, my clients were very pleased with in, so Double Yeay. (Never mind what D-A-D means. No relation with the previous assignment either.)

So there. What do you think?

Jeroen

Okay, I know, I’m a day late. But I thought this would be better than yet another lame and predictable April Fool’s joke today. Such as announcing a Happysad comeback or something. That would just be cruel.

Hi everybody! How are you doing?

Jeroen

Now I have stopped drawing Happysad cartoons, it’s only natural that my daily visitor count has fallen back. Now it seems to be stabilized at between 400 and 700 a day. Still so many visitors, and I don’t have to do anything for it, tee hee!

But I know that some of them are Real Fans who keep coming back every now and then looking for updates, and so, to reward your loyalty, here’s a small update about how things are going. I’m only going to tell you nice things. First off, it’s taken a very long time, but I think that spring is finally coming to my country. Oh yeah. Lots of fun stuff ahead as people end their hibernation! I’m also looking forward to the summer, because I already know where I’ll be travelling to. This year, it ‘ll be Costa Rica! If you happen to be over there, send me a mail. Maybe we can meet up

More good news is that I finally got new cartooning assignments, and I hope that means things will pick up again now. And few days ago I saw that one of our national newspapers (well, their website at least) is looking for new cartoonists, so naturally I applied! Now I’m waiting for a reply, and of course while nothing is certain yet (I’m sure there will be lots of competition), my friends have been so supportive, it already makes me feel, well, you know… happy.

So keep your fingers crossed for me. The more often I get back to the drawing board, the quicker inspiration for something new might pop up

Jeroen